08/29, 9:25pm

Updated version brings welcome improvements

Electronista has taken a closer look at the third-generation Kindle, Amazon's latest attempt to cement its dominance in the e-book reader market. We found that the company followed through with its promise of an improved display paired with a lighter housing and ergonomic design. Page turns appear to be slightly quicker, while the "experimental" browser shows potential for basic tasks such as Wikipedia research.

10/07, 1:35am

US users to see other service charges when roaming

Amazon on Tuesday evening dropped the price of its Kindle 2 reading device by $40, bringing it down to $259, while offering a new Kindle with global wireless access for a $20 premium. Amazon says the combo US/International version uses GSM technology for coverage in over 100 countries, but that US customers traveling abroad will be charged an additional $1.99 fee for wirelessly downloading books or single issues of periodicals from "your Archived Items or the Kindle store while roaming internationally." A $4.99 fee applies for newspaper, magazine, and blog subscription content, while the company will charge $0.99 per megabyte (MB) for transferred personal documents.

03/12, 3:55pm

Brother e-paper viewer

Brother Japan on Thursday introduced its SV-100B document viewer which, despite appearances, is not meant to compete with e-book readers such as Amazon's Kindle 2. Instead, the is more advanced, featuring a 9.7-inch electronic paper display with a 1200x825 resolution at 150dpi. Unlike the Kindle 2 or other dedicated e-book readers, the SV-100B can also display the screen of a PC, smartphone or PDA connected via Bluetooth.